Windows Live Local is Microsoft’s answer to Google Earth and there’s a free add-in to connect Outlook to the service for maps and directions.
Windows Live Local is Microsoft’s answer to Google Earth – an online mapping service available from http://local.live.com/ and there’s a free plug-in to let you integrate your appointments with the online service.
The download is a small, 2.8MB here however that’s really an installer which may download other elements necessary to install the plug-in. This utility is a beta product only with no support. The download requires optional Microsoft Office license validation. It only works for Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2002 (XP), it will not install for Outlook 2007 beta releases.
To install you need to shut down Outlook entirely (including unplugging your Pocket PC). We had a lot of trouble installing this plug-in but finally got it to work after much hair-pulling. To get information for this utility you need an Internet connection but a Windows Live login is not required. There are options to save map data within an appointment so it can be used offline.
After installation, re-start Outlook and go to Calendar view. Choose an appointment that has a valid address in the Location field. ‘Valid’ address means some string of text that Windows Live can interpret as an address. “742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield” could be valid in the non-animated TV show world
Like other Microsoft mapping products, address searching works best when the address uses commas to separate street number/name, suburb/city, state, postal code and country. The USA is assumed but otherwise you should specify the country for all addresses.
Your immediate options are on the toolbar of the open calendar item.
Find Locations lets you enter an address and have a list of possible locations display. This is also the place where you setup your home and work locations.
Insert Map and Directions will copy a map of the location in the appointment into the Notes area of the appointment. If you have setup a starting point then the driving directions may be included (depending on the quality of the data available for that area). The map is added as a JPG image, sometimes this worked and other tests returned a peculiar snapshot with no relevant information. File attachments to appointment notes are not copied to a Pocket PC.
The driving directions seemed reasonably accurate, though anyone who has used any software mapping soon discovers that there are anomalies in the data and directions. It was no surprise that directions were available for North America, UK and Europe because Microsoft already sells mapping software for those areas, but the Aussie members of Office Watch were pleasantly surprised to get driving directions for locations in Sydney.
The ‘Find Local Information’ toolbar button opens a browser window at Windows Live pointing at the Location address for the appointment.
In the Calendar item you’ll see a ‘Location’ tab that has a lot more options. You can specify a Start Location for driving directions with presets for Home, Work and Other. Driving directions can be requested and printed out. The travel time can be added to the start time of your appointment. Maps can be included in appointments sent to other
If you request map data for an appointment then you can invite people (see the previous article in this issue) and a link to the location data in Windows Live will be included in the invitation email.
Currently this utility only works with appointments, you might expect it to work with contacts but that’s not the case. You could create a temporary appointment for any address then copy the map and directions to the notes field of a contact.
Understandably, there are some known glitches in this beta software so you should cast an eye over the readme file to avoid some unnecessary surprises.
We were pleasantly surprised by this plug-in which, despite some limitations and installation woes, worked well and had been well thought through. We especially liked the recognition that offline access to the mapping data is needed. All too often Microsoft plug-ins promise more than they really deliver but happily not in this case. Give it a try.
